Indians Win In Idalia
The St. Francis Indian varsity easily defeated the Idalia Wolves in Idalia on Tuesday, January 7th. The Indians executed well throughout the contest and rolled to a thirty point victory, 74-44. There was no junior varsity boys game.
The Indians did not waste much time in establishing an advantage in the contest. The Indians opened the game with a post move basket by Cade Bracelin (assist Wyatt Landenberger). After another Bracelin basket, a drive by Mason Schiltz, and jump shot by Jacob Baxter, the Indians were up 9-0 with only a minute and fifteen seconds gone in the game. The quick start seemed to dull the Indians intensity, and soon the Wolves cut the lead to 12-8 on an offensive rebound basket at 3:53. After an Indian time-out, the Wolves scored again on another Indian turnover (12-10), but the Indians recovered and began to stretch the lead again. A trey by Bracelin stopped the Wolves' run. An Idalia turnover led to an offensive rebound basket by Mason Schiltz, and a steal and score by Wyatt Landenberger put the Indians ahead 19-10 at 1:59. The Indians scored twice more before the quarter closed. A nice assist by Taylor Rogers led to a Landenberger fast-break basket, and a Bracelin pass set up a Rogers baseline drive. The Indians led 23-13 after one period.
The Wolves scored the first basket of the second period (23-15), but the Indians went on a 13-point run that culminated in a 36-15 advantage approximately four minutes into the second period. The run was fueled by three baskets from Schiltz, two from Bracelin, and a trey from Rogers. The Indians led 39-18 at halftime.
The third period opened with a nice break ending in an assist by Schiltz on a Jacob Baxter basket. Three consecutive baskets were then scored by the Wolves, all a result of Indian turnovers (41-24). The Indians then began to turn up the man-to-man defensive pressure, and it resulted in several Idalia turnovers. The Indians efficiently converted the turnovers into baskets and moved out to a 57-32 lead by the end of the third period. During the third period, several Indian reserve players made valuable contributions.
The Indian reserves played almost all of the fourth period. Jeremiah Neitzel scored on an assist by Taylor Rogers to open the period. A steal and assist by Jakob Church led to a Jude Faulkender basket giving the Indians a thirty-point lead (63-33) with 5:11 left in the game. The margin grew to 31 (70-39) on an assist by Quinton Cravens to Lenny Olivares. Olivares made a nice assist to Jakob Church to move the scoreboard to 72-40. Francisco Fernandez scored the final Indian basket on a drive. The Indians defeated the Wolves 74-44.
Mason Schiltz led the Indians with 24 points (10 in the 3rd quarter) and 10 rebounds. Cade Bracelin contributed 13 points, Jacob Baxter 7, and Wyatt Landenberger 6. Baxter also earned 5 steals. Lenny Olivares grabbed 6 rebounds. The Indians shot 55% from the field (33 of 60) and 6 of 17 from the line. Twelve Indians scored in the contest.
Idalia was led by Dalton Schafer (6' 1" Jr.) and Jason Dutton (5' 11" Soph.), each with 10 points. Trevor Hurlburt (5' 10" Soph.) and Erick Enriquez (5' 10" Fr.) each scored 9. The Wolves were 15 of 45 from the field (36%) and 10 of 18 from the line.
Coach Jeff Beims had the following comments on the game, "Idalia has been down for the last couple years, but every year they get better and this year was no different. I was worried going in that our boys would take them lightly, and I think we suffered the affects of just that early in the ball game. We played sloppy, inconsistent basketball. We turned the ball over too much and were out of sync defensively. We turned things around to get a convincing win, but we have a lingering issue of playing great one night, then just “showing up” the next. If we expect to have success this season and into the future, we have be able to bring the same high level of play consistently through the season."
The Indians will play Wichita County, in Leoti, on Friday, January 10th. The junior varsity game will begin at 6:15 p.m. in the Wichita County Elementary Gym. The varsity boys game will follow the varsity girls game in the Wichita County High School Gym at approximately 8 p.m.
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